Prime Video's 2-Part 'Bosch Meets Reacher' Series Is Officially Coming Back

Published Sep 22, 2026, 3:01 PM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

While Prime Video’s Bosch and Reacher are two of the streaming service’s most beloved procedurals, their best competitor is set to return and remind viewers of its detective drama bonafides soon. While True Detective season 1’s 2014 debut is often credited with the arrival of countless starry, gritty, R-rated detective dramas in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Prime Video’s Bosch was just as big an influence on this influx of shows.

Starring Titus Welliver as the titular irascible LAPD homicide detective Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, Bosch was a brutal and bleak character study that fused the satisfying procedural structure of network hits like CSI, NCIS, and Law & Order with the gritty moral complexity of cable hits like The Wire, Oz, and The Shield. Based on the novel series of the same name by The Lincoln Lawyer author Michael Connelly, the show lasted 68 episodes across seven seasons before spawning the sequel series Bosch: Legacy.

Bosch: Legacy lasted three further seasons, before the spinoff Ballard continued the Prime Video franchise. While the upcoming prequel Bosch: Start of Watch promises to bring back the iconic character, Prime Video’s Reacher franchise has since replaced Bosch as the streaming service’s premiere action thriller. Based on Lee Child’s book series, Reacher is another gritty, R-rated character study, although its hero isn’t technically a detective. For a fusion of the two shows, viewers instead need to turn to the underrated Cross.

Cross Season 3 Proves Prime Video’s Detective Drama Is One of Its Best Thrillers

Unlike Bosch, Reacher is a soldier of fortune. Not only is he not a cop, but he even spends one season of the series battling small town law enforcement like an even brawnier version of Rambo. While Reacher and its spinoff Neagley both feature their characters working alongside law enforcement officers at times, like in the case of Reacher’s season 1 love interest Officer Roscoe, they are just as often pitted against them.

In contrast, Aldis Hodge’s title character from Prime Vidoe’s Cross is a forensic psychologist and detective who works with the Washington DC police department. Like Bosch, he also often ends up investigating his own corrupt colleagues, but he remains a cop and a dedicated member of the force. Like both Bosch and Reacher, this Prime Video show is based on a series of books, this time by acclaimed author James Patterson.

While Morgan Freeman played the role of Cross 1997’s Kiss the Girls and 2001’s Along Came a Spider and Tyler Perry, of all people, portrayed him in the 2012 reboot Alex Cross, there can be no doubt about whom the definitive version of the character is. Hodge’s conflicted cop blends the hulking physicality of Ritchson’s Reacher with the troubled psychology of Welliver’s Bosch, resulting in a lead character who is as believably human as he is nigh-on indestructible.

Cross’s Return Makes Up For 2026’s Failed Reacher Replacement

The news that Cross season 3 is happening could not be more exciting for fans of procedural action thrillers, since the show has quietly developed a reputation as a rare detective drama that can rival Bosch across its first two seasons. With as much high-octane action as Reacher, but the grounded police work of Bosch, Cross truly does feel like a winning blend of Prime Video’s two best earlier entries into the genre.

Furthermore, Cross’s return makes up for 2026’s misguided early attempt to replace Reacher, Prime Video’s Scarpetta. Based on the book series of the same name by Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta had the potential to be a starry procedural with R-rated gore, a twisted serial killer hunt at its core, and an incredible cast. Sadly, its goofy plot contrivances and plodding pacing meant the show fell well short of the highs of Bosch and Reacher, meaning it is now up to Cross to compete with the Prime Video hits instead.